A similar nightmarish experience occurred in Ogun State recently. What with the incessantly ravaged Niger Delta region in which communities and farmlands are submerged in rampaging floods! Whereas in much saner and serious societies like the United States of America in which people learn from their painful experiences, in Nigeria experiences repeat themselves with deadlier and more disastrous consequences.

For instance, in 1927 in the United States, there occurred the greatest natural disaster that the country has ever known – the Mississippi River inundated the homes of nearly one million people.

That flood which helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president drove hundreds of thousands of blacks northwards and transformed American society and politics forever.

Despite being a perennial seasonal occurrence, Nigerians have, over the years, been caught pants down each time the rainy season approaches. In fact, despite the prevalence of hunger associated with floods, the plague also goes with it water-borne diseases.

For instance, more than 500 Nigerians have so far died nationwide as a result of cholera. There seem to be no clear plans to avert the dangers that are often associated with the rains, year in and year out.

This is despite fore-warnings by the relevant agencies of Government like the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET). In 2012, Nigeria went through what was in recent times its worst form of flooding in the history of the country. That year alone, no fewer than 373 died from floods, while over 2.1 million people were displaced by the menace that ravaged the country.

This was aside from the loss of billions of naira worth of properties nationwide. As a result of the severity of flood disasters of that year, the Federal Government headed by former President Goodluck Jonathan set up the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, which was chaired by business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote to help mitigate the impact of the crisis.

Many had thought that the Federal, State, and Local Government authorities whose responsibility it is to ensure proper flood disaster management in the country would have put on their thinking caps and embarked on effective planning strategies to avert such future reoccurrences. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

Since then, every subsequent year has experienced its own form of flood disaster. In 2013 for instance, heavy floods affected more than 81,500 people across the country, while almost 8,000 people were displaced and more than 6,500 homes damaged. In that year alone, about 19 deaths were recorded from the flood disaster while at least 2,217 farmlands were destroyed by flood.

The states most affected were Zamfara, Kogi, and Bauchi. In 2015, no fewer than 53 people died and 100,420 were displaced from the flood disaster, which greatest impact was recorded in 11 states of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Jigawa, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, and Bauchi. On top of this, along with Nigeria’s coastal areas, violent floods are becoming much more ferocious.

Despite the very bitter experiences of the past years, this year again, floods have continued to wreak havoc among the people. Only recently, there were reported cases of flood disasters in Niger and Lagos States.

Eleven people were reported dead as a result of flooding in Suleja and Tafa Local Government areas of Niger State in 2017. According to the report, of the 11, nine were killed at the Checheniya area of Suleja, one killed at the Kuspa area of the town, while another died at Ayin-Nassarrawa in Tafa.

The houses submerged were located in Kaltuma and Angwan Gwari in the Suleja Local Government Area of the state.

In the case of the Lagos flood disaster, the incident took place in the affluent Lagos Island area of the State. It was reported that after very heavy rains that lasted for four straight days, hundreds of homes and roads were flooded in the State’s affluent neighborhoods of Ajah, Ikoyi, Lekki, and Victoria Island.

Besides the Niger and Lagos States flood disasters, there are other reported cases of similar magnitude in other states of the country. This development prompted the 8th senate in a motion to urge the Federal Government to release funds for the construction of drainages across the country, especially in Niger State where floods led to the collapse of a number of bridges.

Unfortunately, the 9th senate appears to have said nothing since the first incident was reported. On its part, the Federal Government had also promptly approved the sum of N1.6 billion as an intervention fund to 15 states ravaged by flood in 2017.

The Finance Ministry, according to a statement by Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media, was to release the intervention fund directly to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for immediate disbursement.

The benefiting states were Edo, Sokoto, Ekiti, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia, Oyo, Lagos, Plateau, and Bayelsa. The tribulations, agony, and pains commuters are experiencing navigating from the Southern part to the North through Kogi state are indescribable.

As bridges and the roads are submerged, road users are compelled to spend several man-hours or days on the road in an attempt to escape the cascading floods along Lokoja and Ajaokuta.

Many now divert from Otukpa junction to Otukpo across the new River Benue Bridge through Nasarawa to Keffi. We expect quick intervention by Government this year, 2021.

It is good that the often Government intervenes to relieve the burden imposed by flood menace on the people. But such ad hoc interventions can only provide temporary solutions to the perennial crisis.

A more permanent solution to the menace lies in proper planning by the environmental authorities as well as the attitude of Nigerians themselves.

Granted that flooding is a natural occurrence. However, the attitude of the citizens to their environment goes a long way in determining the impact flooding would have on the ecosystem.

The inability of the Government to construct proper drainages on our roads and the streets, building of houses and other structures along with waterways by unscrupulous Nigerians, blocking of drainages through improper disposal of refuse, are some of the man-made actions that cause negative impacts by floods.

These negative attitudes by the people must be eschewed if lasting solutions to flooding must be found. We have no choice on these as the options are limited.